In contrast to Graham Greene's The Lawless Roads, this work of 1930s travel writing found little favor in its time.[1] Today, the book is still not highly regarded. One critic called it "polemical in content, rancorous in tone--by much the dreariest of [Waugh's] travel books".[2] However, at least one critic takes the opposite stance, calling it "[The English] language's greatest single traditionalist credo." [3]